Egg Production is Down

[Tmartin1970]

Earlier this year, I introduced 4 new chicks to my flock bringing the total to 10. One of the chicks escaped the first week. Once they were old enough I incorporated them all together in the same run. I almost immediately saw the number of eggs drop from 5-6 a day to 4 consistently. Then one of my hens became broody and I noticed another drop to 3 a day. Also one of the older hens died during this time. I was able to break her from being broody but the egg production has continued to go down. Recently I am getting only 1-2 eggs a day from 8 hens. This has been a continuous decline for the past 4-5 months at least. They all look and act healthy except for low egg count. Is there anything I can do?

 

[DobieLover]

Earlier this year, I introduced 4 new chicks to my flock bringing the total to 10. One of the chicks escaped the first week. Once they were old enough I incorporated them all together in the same run. I almost immediately saw the number of eggs drop from 5-6 a day to 4 consistently. Then one of my hens became broody and I noticed another drop to 3 a day. Also one of the older hens died during this time. I was able to break her from being broody but the egg production has continued to go down. Recently I am getting only 1-2 eggs a day from 8 hens. This has been a continuous decline for the past 4-5 months at least. They all look and act healthy except for low egg count. Is there anything I can do?

How old are the older hens?
How old are the pullets that you introduced earlier this year?
The days continue to get shorter and that in and of itself will reduce egg production. You lost another producer when she went broody. They don't just immediately start laying again after they've been broken.
If it's any consolation, I have a flock of 30 birds, with 23 birds of age to lay. I average 4 eggs a day.
It's going to take longer days to stimulate egg production. I do not supplement light but if you want to try to increase production, that is something you could try.

 

[Tmartin1970]

How old are the older hens?
How old are the pullets that you introduced earlier this year?
The days continue to get shorter and that in and of itself will reduce egg production. You lost another producer when she went broody. They don't just immediately start laying again after they've been broken.
If it's any consolation, I have a flock of 30 birds, with 23 birds of age to lay. I average 4 eggs a day.
It's going to take longer days to stimulate egg production. I do not supplement light but if you want to try to increase production, that is something you could try.

The older birds are now about 1 1/2 years old. And the younger ones are now 9 months old. I figured there was some stress involved when introducing the new girls plus the broody hen but I didn’t expect it to last this long. They’ve been all in the same run for a few months now.

 

[nuthatched]

Is it winter where you are?

 

[halefamily_flock]

The older birds are now about 1 1/2 years old. And the younger ones are now 9 months old. I figured there was some stress involved when introducing the new girls plus the broody hen but I didn’t expect it to last this long. They’ve been all in the same run for a few months now.

Have you noticed them losing feathers or looking skinny? 9 months old is the right time for a mini-molt for your pullets, just in time to get fresh winter feathers. And 18 months old is right when I might expect your older hens to molt. It could be a coincidence about putting them all together, right around the seasonal changes and molting.

I knew to expect the 18 month "hard-molt" and noticed my 4 older hens losing a bunch of feathers and looking rough, but only recently learned about the 9 month mini-molt. My 9-month old pullets had been giving me loads of eggs and then it dropped off steeply, even before the weather changed and the days got so short. When I picked them up or looked more closely, I realized they were losing their feathers underneath, even though I hadn't noticed from a distance. It's been about a 6-week process for the pullets, and I had my first one looking good & fluffy again, and start to lay again. The others look like they're getting close to done molting. I currently have 23 laying-age girls and am getting about 6-8 eggs a day, down from 12-18/day two months ago.

 

[Sally PB]

but only recently learned about the 9 month mini-molt. My 9-month old pullets had been giving me loads of eggs and then it dropped off steeply, even before the weather changed and the days got so short.

I'm in this camp too. Waiting for longer hours of daylight and then some eggs....